Anisimova filled with thoughts of her late dad in US Open comeback win

At 19, Amanda Anisimova was the veteran in Louis Armstrong Stadium. And for nearly two hours on Thursday, she dealt with what so many veterans faceat the US Open: an inspired performance from a young upstart.

But as the more experienced pros usually do, Anisimova hung tough, and in the process ousted 16-year-old Katrina Scott, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to her first career US Open third round.

"I'm really happy that I was able to not have a mental breakdown like I normally would have, and then lose a match," Anisimova said. "And I was just thinking about my dad the whole time. I didn't want to lose without putting up a fight, so I'm really happy about that."

The week marked the first US Open victories for both American teens. Scott entered the field at the last second as a wild card, and won her debut over 131st-ranked Natalia Vikhlyantseva. Having turned pro late last year, Scott has already proved to herself that she belongs at this level, and this loss won't change that.

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Ranked No. 637, Scott came out swinging freely and raced to a 4-1 lead, while Anisimova was struggling to find her range. The 2019 French Open semifinalist donated points with errors, while her younger compatriot controlled the majority of baseline rallies. Some of Scott's sizzling backhands down the line, in particular, were winning things of beauty.

"She came out literally firing," Anisimova said. "I think she was hitting serves at 117 m.p.h. All the credit to her she was playing amazing; it's not that I was having a bad day or anything."

Scott would maintain her fine form until 4-4 in the second set, at which point she hesitated just enough for Anisimova regain control. On an Anisimova break point, Scott came to the net for just the third time in the match, but patted consecutive passive, soft volleys right back to her opponent, before ultimately netting one. Anisimova would go on hold serve to grab the set, and then win four more straight games before easing to victory.

"I didn't know much at all about her. Going into the match, I was trying not to focus too much on her game," Anisimova said. "She's younger than me so I was going to be nervous. But I was just trying to block that out, go out there and play like it's any other player."

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The No. 22 seed hasn't had anything to celebrate at Flushing Meadows since winning the junior title in 2017. She lost in her main-draw debut to Taylor Townsend in 2018, and then missed the event last year after her father, Konstantin Anisimov, died from a heart attack just a week before the Open began.

On court on Thursday, Anisimova was flooded with memories of her late father.

"I'm getting a lot of memories from the juniors when my dad was with me—I had a match just like this and I was down," Anisimova said. "And he was saying some encouraging words so that really helped me.

"I don't know, I was just thinking about him the whole time, and it was just giving me a lot of energy to pump me up and get myself going."